Never Again

We booked our Carnival cruise to Grand Turk, Half Moon Cay & Nassau Bahamas for my wife's birthday. This is our 2nd cruise. Last summer we cruised on the Norwegian Star to Bermuda.

We left out of Pier 90 in Manhattan , NY. What a mess. There were a few large groups , " Family & Friends" cruising together. The words to describe them:
RUDE, OBNOXIOUS, LOUD, INCONSIDERATE , LOW CLASS, ETC. We knew exactly who to avoid on the 7 nights aboard this ship. I found out that the Carnival Splendor was the ship that had the toilet issues and other mechanical problems AFTER the cruise was booked. I was concerned, but we took our chances.

The ship was technically sound until our last day at Nassau. We were delayed in port till close to 7:00pm, as we were to leave port by 4pm. Just glad there were no major problems.

Our cabin was great. Very spacious with a couch and King size bed. Better than our Norwegian cabin. Both Oceanview.

The food was horrible. Buffets were closed most of the time with very long lines. The ice tea tasted like a chemistry project. The breakfast was mostly the same powdered eggs, fake sausage links and continental style. You had to wait in the omelette station line while people rushed back and forth through the line as it backed up. Same goes for the Mongolian Wok Chinese noodle station. I understand that you have to wait in line, but I feel that they didn't have enough stations opened for the amount of people cruising.

There were only 2 restaurants to dine at without charge with moderate to long lines daily. The food was average. Nothing special at all.

The thing that drove us crazy was that they had Photo stations set up every 10 feet to take photos! How annoying! You pass the same people 2-3 times going to different shows , Piano bar , etc, and they keep soliciting you for a photo. They did this at dinner too. One night they sent in a PIRATE to pose with. Unprofessional. This isn't a Disney Cruise.

o.k. ... the jacuzzis were always packed and also the pool . But on a better note, the water slide was pretty fun and you didn't have to wait too long. The gym wasn't too crowed at the times we went daily and " Groovy Tunes with Keith" made the cruise better for us. Keith was awesome! Great voice, great guitar skills, sarcastically funny and had great song selections. And a tasting station "California Roll" had really good samples.

Our days at port were amazing. We kayaked in Grand Turk, Horseback rode at Half Moon Cay & went to Atlantis in Nassau , Bahamas. We purchased the excursions on board and had no issues. Next time we will fly to the island and enjoy more time there instead of the 4-6 hours they give you before returning aboard.

All in all, the ship experience wasn't totally bad, but not great. We made the best of it and enjoyed ourselves. I would not recommend Carnival cruise line unless money is a major concern. Now I know why the cruise was so cheap, we booked Carnival due to scheduling. So, NEVER AGAIN with Carnival for us.

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